Alive N' Chicken

Alive N' Chicken
Season	2
Number	23A
Airdate	September 15, 1997
Writer(s)	Mirith JS Calao
Direction	Rick Schneider
Previous	"Roll Out the Pork Barrel"
Next	"Prima Doggy"

"Alive N' Chicken" is the first segment of the twenty-third episode of 101 Dalmatians: The Series.

This episode is notably famous for being banned from airing after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Plot

The episode begins with Spot, happy and content, when she comes across a pile of corn. As she eats, she overhears Nanny and Anita talking about how it's curtains for a "spot" and will be history by the night. Spot thinks they're referring to her, but as soon as she runs off, it is revealed the two were actually talking about a spot on a dress which Anita plans to turn into curtains, just like how she made Roger a shirt out of dishtowels.

As Spot worries on this, she sees Nanny making a wooden box, which is Spot's size, making her think it's her coffin. In reality, it's a platter box for Nanny's herb garden.

Spot then sees Roger digging a hole, to which she thinks is for putting her six feet under. She then runs off again, and it turns out that Roger was digging the hole to bury the dishtowel shirt that Anita made him (as Roger presumably didn't like it).

Spot runs into Lucky, Cadpig and Rolly and they ask her what's troubling her. Spot explains what she saw, but the pups are able to guess exactly what each really meant. However, Spot isn't convinced and goes off to spend her day alone.

Cadpig then realizes that they can take Spot's death paranoia to their advantage and treat the day for Spot to "live it up". She convinces Lucky and Rolly to help with this.

The Dalmatians take Spot on a picnic.

First, Rolly sets Spot up with a massage and large picnic. Spot is concerned at first, due to having digestive trouble, but Cadpig notes that if today is her last day, it doesn't matter. Spot, as a result, eats not only the entire picnic, but also an apple tree and a field of corn. She shows up later, quite plump and wonders what they're going to do next. Cadpig says that Spot is going to face her fears and stand up to someone who has not only damaged her pride, but devalued her as an individual.

Cadpig brings Spot to confront Steven the alligator. Spot runs off for fear that Steven will eat her, but once again, Cadpig tells Spot that if it is her last day, she's got nothing to lose. Spot is soon able to stand up to Steven and rant to him on what she dislikes about his attempts to eat her. Spot, at first, feels proud of this but nearly gets eaten by Steven as a result.

Once saved from Steven, Lucky says Spot will now fly. Spot states she is a chicken, so can already fly, but Lucky comments that she's "never actually soared".

Lucky then constructs a plane for Spot and, after two unsuccessful flights, Spot is able to fly the contraption around. During her flight, Spot crashes her way through a pile of trash Swamp Rat has set up before flying over a football match, catching the ball and soaring it through the goal posts. The plane then flies through Villa De Vil where her propeller shaves Cruella's head, whilst Horace and Jasper are busy styling it. Fortunately for them, Cruella loves the result. Spot soon flies her plane into some pylons and is shocked, but she soon sees the sun setting and remembers what Anita had said.

Spot then collides into a Windmill and her plane falls into a sack of flour. Seeing herself white and what looks like a "stairway to heaven", Spot thinks she's dead. However, the Dalmatians inform her that she is still alive (Spot being white is due to the flour and the stairway is in fact a dented wing to the plane). The group then sees Nanny and Anita, proving to Spot that they were indeed talking about a spot on a dress, which has now been made into curtains.

Spot is shocked that she had all that fun for nothing, but Cadpig notes that's how she should live every day; with gusto, passion and courage. Spot rejoices that she's going to live; however, Steven shows up and chases Spot into the sunset.

Trivia

• The episode title is a play on the phrase "alive n' kickin'."
• This episode was banned from airing after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, due to the scene in "Alive N' Chicken" where Spot flies her plane around the Chow Tower, along with crashing into the windmill with the cloud of flour, as it resembles the 9/11 attack.
  • This was also only episode that was banned (whole or half) from airing, only to get its companion "Prima Doggy" to meet the same fate because it was paired off.
  • When 101 Dalmatians: The Series was released on iTunes, this episode was also excluded from the episodes in the store. Because of this, their the only episodes to not be remastered in HD.
• When the Dalmatians first see Spot in a panic, Rolly questions if she thinks the sky is falling again. This is a likely homage to the folk tale Chicken Little, its Disney 1943 short adaptation, and later its 2005 film adaptation.
  • Spot later assumes the sky is falling after getting a trophy stuck on her head in "Channels".
• The sequence which Spot talks about what happened bears a close resemblance to The Twilight Zone.
• When Spot arrives after eating the entire corn field, her steps cause water in a dog bowl to ripple. This is similarly used to signal the dinosaurs' approach in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.
• Lucky later constructs another plane in "Easy on the Lies".
• When Spot crashes through Swamp Rat's trash pile, it takes the shape of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• Apparently, the local high school is called "De Vil High" with a football team known as the Bears.
• Ed, who later appears in "Close But No Cigar", seems to be refereeing the football match.